Is Tesla a automobile firm or a robotics firm? Are we going to Mars or the Moon? Are people a part of extending the “gentle of consciousness” to different planets? It may be onerous to maintain up should you’ve adopted Elon Musk’s shifting mission statements over the previous decade, and even the previous yr, or simply the previous month.
“We’ve up to date the Tesla mission to superb abundance. And that is supposed to ship a message of optimism in regards to the future,” Musk mentioned last month throughout a name with Tesla traders. “I feel we’re almost certainly headed to an thrilling, superb period of abundance. And I feel with the arrival, or with the continued progress of AI and robotics, I feel we really are headed to a way forward for common excessive earnings, not common primary earnings however common excessive earnings. I imply, there’s going to be plenty of change alongside the way in which, however that’s what I see because the almost certainly end result.”
The change to “superb abundance” is definitely a really new change in comparison with the final mission assertion, launched in Sept. 2025. Tesla Master Plan Part 4 known as it “sustainable abundance,” a nod to Musk’s purported purpose of serving to the surroundings.
Evaluate these newest iterations with Tesla’s previous mission assertion, and also you may really feel prefer it’s a totally totally different firm. By extension, it would seem to be Elon Musk was a totally totally different individual. At the very least on paper and in the way in which he presents himself to the world.
Right here’s how Tesla was speaking about itself in 2019: “Tesla’s mission is to speed up the world’s transition to sustainable power.” The remainder of the mission assertion from that period refers to local weather change reaching “alarming ranges” and cites statistics about emissions. Tesla was going to result in a greater surroundings and construct a greater world.
Even the way in which that Tesla was speaking about the way it treats staff feels alien to anybody who is aware of Musk’s broader mission as we speak:
Alongside the way in which, we’re constructing a tradition that’s secure, honest and thrilling for all of our staff. It’s extremely essential to Tesla that everybody seems to be ahead to coming to work each day. We’re proud to have constructed an organization crammed with staff of all backgrounds who possess the power and drive to speed up our imaginative and prescient ahead.
A tradition that’s secure and honest? Sounds fairly woke, should you ask us. And nothing is extra harmful than the woke thoughts virus, not less than in response to Musk.
Musk and humanity
The Tesla mission assertion is only one of many who appear to be shifting radically. Musk appeared on the podcast Cheeky Pint final week, the place he mentioned his plans for his AI chatbot, solar energy, and area journey. The dialogue round humanity is maybe the largest eye-opener for people who suppose they perceive the billionaire’s objectives. As a result of for all his discuss loving humanity, he transparently loathes individuals, as evidenced by his determination to take a chainsaw to issues like USAID final yr. And he appears to be dipping his toe within the water to acknowledge people aren’t obligatory for the long run he’s envisioning.
On the podcast, Musk was requested about journey to different planets and the way xAI’s Grok matches into that. Particularly, there gave the impression to be some confusion about whether or not people could be a part of the equation if synthetic intelligence have been to surpass human intelligence.
“I imply, the essential factor is that consciousness… which I feel arguably most consciousness, or most intelligence actually, consciousness is extra of a debatable factor. The overwhelming majority of intelligence sooner or later might be AI,” Musk mentioned.
“Mainly, people might be a really tiny proportion of all intelligence sooner or later if present traits proceed,” Musk defined. He then stammered by way of a sentence you’d be forgiven for lacking, as a result of it’s borderline unintelligible: “So long as, I feel, there’s intelligence, ideally, additionally, which incorporates human intelligence and consciousness, propagated into the long run, that’s a very good factor.”
That phrase “ideally” appears to be the large pink flag for anybody fearful about Musk’s plan for humanity. People might be there, ideally. However that’s not a assure. The host pressed him on the objectives of SpaceX and whether or not AI was a hedge towards humanity dying off, or whether or not it mattered in any respect.
“I imply, I’m very pro-human. So I wish to ensure we take sure actions that make sure that people are alongside for the journey, we’re not less than there,” mentioned Musk. “However let me simply say the overall quantity of intelligence, I feel perhaps in 5 or 6 years, AI will exceed the sum of all human intelligence. After which if that continues, sooner or later, human intelligence might be lower than 1% of all intelligence.”
The host requested if a small variety of people would nonetheless be answerable for the AI. Musk then appeared to confess that humanity wouldn’t actually be answerable for this model of the long run.
“In the long term, I feel it’s tough to think about that if people have, say, 1% of the… mixed intelligence of synthetic intelligence that people might be accountable for AI,” mentioned Musk. “I feel what we are able to do is ensure that AI has values that trigger intelligence to be propagated into the universe. So the explanation for xAI’s mission is perceive the universe. In order that’s really crucial.”
Musk then proposed that an AI want to hold people round simply out of curiosity.
“I feel, really, additionally as a corollary, you’ve got humanity additionally persevering with to develop. As a result of should you’re curious, you’re attempting to know the universe, one factor you’re attempting to know is the place will humanity go?” Musk mentioned. “And so I feel understanding the universe really means you’d care about propagating humanity into the long run. And in order that’s why I feel our mission assertion is profoundly essential. To the diploma that Grok adheres to that mission assertion, I feel the long run might be superb.”
This doesn’t make any sense, clearly. If some type of robotic intelligence needed to know the universe, there’s no purpose it will want people to do it. It’s a bit like believing {that a} specific species of bug could be treasured and sustained into the long run by a race of superior beings just because they needed to know the universe. It is likely to be a pleasant thought, but it surely’s not obligatory, particularly if the AI noticed itself as wildly superior.
The host requested the query utilizing chimpanzees for example. Even when people care about chimps, they’re not attempting to develop the footprint of chimps into area. Musk countered that people have made protecting zones for chimps.
“Though we may, people may exterminate all chimpanzees, we’ve not, we’ve chosen not to take action,” mentioned Musk.
Which will resonate with some people, but it surely’s not very encouraging when you think about what Musk is constructing together with his AI chatbot Grok. That is the AI that has spreading far-right conspiracy theories about white farmers being killed in South Africa whereas advocating for a brand new Holocaust. Musk spends virtually each day speaking about how oppressed white persons are on X, and who can neglect the 2 Nazi-style salutes he gave at President Donald Trump’s second inauguration?
That is the man who’s going to construct a complicated AI that can cherish humanity and wish to see it thrive into the long run? One can clearly think about Grok’s biases as a result of we see them at work every day. That is the bot that claims Elon Musk is smarter than Einstein and fitter than LeBron James.
Do you wish to stay within the wildlife refuge run by Grok?
Hyping the inventory for Tesla
Because the wealthiest individual within the historical past of the world ($850 billion, in response to Forbes), Musk appears to be constructing one thing not for humanity however for himself. Each pivot we see serves his wants and the wants of the Tesla inventory worth.
When his electrical automobile gross sales began to plateau, Musk insisted that Tesla wasn’t a automobile firm; it was a expertise firm. He argued that his software program, like “Full Self-Driving,” made it way more essential than a agency that was cranking out electrical autos. And his robotic Optimus was folded into that blend as the good promise of the long run, out of the blue making Tesla not only a automobile firm, not only a tech firm, however a robotics firm.
Musk mentioned on his investor name last month that he had a “long-term purpose” of manufacturing 1 million Optimus robots per yr, discontinuing his Tesla Mannequin S and X automobile manufacturing, and as an alternative constructing robots with a view to make that occur. The decision was peppered with caveats, even when it got here to his long-promised Full Self-Driving tech, together with phrases like “pending regulatory approval.” Musk has been hyping totally autonomous driving as simply across the nook for therefore lengthy that it even has its personal Wikipedia page. And he desires traders to suppose the one factor holding him again is that rattling Massive Authorities that’s all the time so meddlesome.
What’s SpaceX’s true mission?
Within the close to future, it received’t simply be the Tesla inventory worth that wants juicing. Musk has merged his AI firm xAI (which additionally owns the social media platform X) with SpaceX within the lead-up to turning it right into a publicly traded firm. Merging the 2 firms doesn’t make a lot sense, except you’ll be able to provide you with some unusual excuse. And within the case of SpaceX, Musk landed on “AI in area.”
Musk mentioned in the course of the Cheeky Pint podcast that he expects it can quickly be cheaper to construct synthetic intelligence and orbital information facilities in area.
“My prediction is that it will likely be by far the most cost effective place to place AI might be area in 36 months or much less, perhaps 30… 36 months? Lower than 36 months,” mentioned Musk.
The timeline reminds one of many guarantees for flying vehicles, which all the time appear to be two years out. When Musk says 36 months, the equal of three years, it’s lengthy sufficient that he’s banking on the general public’s quick reminiscence for hype. And by very performatively saying perhaps it’s really 30 months, he’s signalling that he’s acquired some sort of calendar the place he’s being exact.
Ought to X be “inclusive”?
You see the identical sort of radical shifts occur lately at X. Evaluate the way in which that Musk talked about Twitter when he was attempting to purchase it in 2022 to the way in which he operates it as we speak, and anybody would discover it onerous to reconcile.
“I feel it’s crucial for there to be an inclusive enviornment without spending a dime speech,” Musk said during an interview shortly after he introduced his intention to purchase it. “Twitter has develop into sort of the de facto city sq., so it’s simply actually essential that folks have the, each the fact and the notion that they can converse freely throughout the bounds of the regulation.”
“My sturdy intuitive sense is that having a public platform that’s maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extraordinarily essential to the way forward for civilization,” Musk mentioned.
For sure, Musk has tried to censor anybody he doesn’t like on the platform whereas spreading far-right extremist hate. The phrase “inclusive” in all probability hasn’t left Musk’s mouth within the 4 years since he uttered it about Twitter.
In the meantime, he appears to have misplaced curiosity in working a social media firm as he turns his consideration to AI and taking SpaceX public.
Mars or the Moon or flying vehicles?
The shift in focus can provide individuals whiplash. And there was confusion when Musk out of the blue made an abrupt change within the objectives of SpaceX, writing final week that the corporate had “shifted focus towards constructing a self-growing metropolis on the Moon.”
“The mission of SpaceX stays the identical: lengthen consciousness and life as we all know it to the celebrities,” Musk wrote. “That mentioned, SpaceX will even attempt to construct a Mars metropolis and start doing so in about 5 to 7 years, however the overriding precedence is securing the way forward for civilization, and the Moon is quicker.”
Once more, we see his longer timelines, which can as properly be guarantees about 100 years into the long run.
The Tesla CEO retains saying that the long run goes to be so superb, you received’t even must work. He insists that robots might be doing all the pieces and people will get to only sit round and entertain ourselves with no matter we like, whereas nonetheless amassing cash in some way. This additionally is unnecessary, however the billionaire has gone as far as to say that cash received’t exist sooner or later and also you shouldn’t hassle saving for retirement.
Musk appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast in Oct. 2025 and teased that he’d be demonstrating a flying automobile by the top of the yr. The billionaire didn’t try this, after all, and there’s no one actually asking why. You don’t even want a full three years for individuals to neglect the guarantees you made. You are able to do the identical factor in three months, offered you wave sufficient shiny objects round.
What’s the actual purpose?
Musk has many alternative methods of presenting himself to traders and the broader world. And he’s clearly out to build up as a lot cash as potential, regardless of claiming he doesn’t do something for cash. We stay in an period of males pushed by petty grievances.
Musk wasn’t invited to the White Home for an electrical automobile occasion throughout Joe Biden’s presidency, one thing that many commentators suppose drove his push to embrace President Donald Trump within the 2024 election. Musk is obsessive about getting ousted from OpenAI, the corporate he helped discovered with others like CEO Sam Altman. These rivalries might seem to be small potatoes within the grand scheme of issues, however private animus towards perceived enemies will be the one huge factor driving Musk past cash. As a result of after you’re a trillionaire, what extra is there to realize?
What if Musk’s dismantling of USAID and destruction of federal companies beneath DOGE was only a strategy to get again on the Democrats who not worshiped him as a god? What if the merger of X, xAI, and SpaceX into one huge franken-company IPO is only a means of beating Sam Altman and OpenAI to the end line?
In early 2025, Musk led an unsolicited bid for OpenAI in a transfer extensively seen as an effort to frustrate the AI firm’s transition right into a for-profit automobile. Billionaires like Musk can hoard all the cash on the earth, however they’re nonetheless pushed by among the pettiest motivations you’ll be able to think about. And that’s in all probability why his mission statements hold altering. It’s not within the service of some larger objective. When it comes proper right down to it, it’s all about simply two issues: cash and hate.
